We are back

We are finally back in the US.  Returning to the US has been different than what we expected.  We have been feeling a little out of place here, but after a few weeks, we are feeling much more normal and are adjusting back to life in the US.  It is difficult to describe the emotions we have been going through.  It has been great seeing friends, family, and our dogs, but we also miss our friends in Kenya and of course the babies at the baby center.  We look forward to hearing about how they are doing.  As we moved in to our new place we have realized just how much stuff that we have.  We have been here for over two weeks and we are still unpacking.  Nicole and I have enough shoes for a small village in Kenya.  It will be a challenge for us to keep living more simply here in the US.  As for what we are doing next, Nicole and I don’t know.  We feel a little lost as to the direction for our lives.  We are looking for jobs and are planning to wait about six months and then evaluate whether we will return right away to Kenya or not.  We are so grateful for all our support while we were in Kenya.  We will be posting many more pictures of our trip on the web in the next few days.  We will post a blog when they are up. ~ Jeremy

The End of Our Term

We have reached the end of our term here in Kenya.  We will be flying out late Tuesday night, October 20th.  Nicole and I are going through a mix of emotions as we are preparing to leave.  We are very excited about seeing our family and friends as well as being in our own culture again.  I personally have been really craving pickles and pretzels.   But we are also leaving behind many friendships we have made with missionaries and Kenyans, and of course, we are leaving the babies at the Baby Center.  We have become so attached to them over the past 9 months.  Saying goodbye will be very hard.  There is so much that we will miss about Kenya: the beautiful animals, the inspirational stories of the missionaries, the smiles, laughs, and sayings of the kids, and the many adventures of Kenya, where you never know what exactly to expect.  I am sure we will never see guards in America carrying bows and arrows or a man walking in the city with about 20 chickens strapped upside-down on his shoulders selling them.  We feel so blessed to have been able to work at the Baby Center, and it has been a privilege to work beside many people who have dedicated their lives to being servants of God.  I am beginning to understand a little more fully what Jesus meant in his favorite phrase found throughout the gospels: “If you keep your life for yourself, you will lose it.  But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.”  My wife and I came here to serve as best we could, but we have received so much more than we ever could have given.  As St. Francis of Assisi says truly in his famous prayer, “It is in giving that we receive.”  My wife and I have been blessed in more ways than we could ever have imagined, and we are grateful for all of our supporters who have made this experience possible through their generosity.  Thank you so much. ~ Jeremy

Before & After

One of my favorite parts about living and working at the orphanage is watching how the babies change so rapidly once they are here getting food and attention. Below are pictures of Jesse upon arrival to the Baby Center in March when he was almost 4 months old and weighing only 5 pounds.  Myself, our social worker, and another missionary picked him up from a hospital in Nakuru where he had been abandoned and awaiting a home since birth.

Jesse after 6 months at the Baby Center:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Nicole

Triplets

Last week we got orphaned triplets here at the Baby Center. They are pretty darn cute.  There are 2 boys; Caleb and Benjamin, and 1 girl; Lydia. We are hoping to be able to find a home where they can stay together, but obviously taking on 3 infants is a pretty big task.  They are about 7 weeks old and are small but doing really well. ~Nicole

August is Over

August is finally over, and Nicole and I have finally had a chance to take a few days off.  We were very busy last month because of the youth being on holiday.  After the Losam trip, we had many other youth activities each week, including discussions, movie nights, and a baby center outreach where about 20 youth came to spend time with the babies.  In addition, I was asked to preach the next two Sundays after the Losam trip.  It is safe to say that I was exhausted, though  the experience was also very interesting.  One quick example of this occurred on the second Sunday as I was walking to the pulpit  to begin my sermon.  As I am about to begin, one of the elders came up to the stage and called me to her.  I took a few steps toward her, and she whispered to me that Pastor Meshack, who was away that weekend, had called and wanted to talk to me.  I was caught a little off guard since this was the last thing I expected as I was about to begin my sermon.  I told her the call would have to wait and assured her that Pastor Meshack would understand.  Interruptions are not uncommon during our church service.  In August, we also finished building our brand new ping-pong table thanks to donations from family and the help of a few friends in Kenya.  We ended the month with a day trip to a nearby university, where we played volleyball, badminton, Phase 10, Uno, and many other games with the youth.   We had 36 youth overall and ended the trip with a devotional and time of sharing about the many barriers and challenges we face as  Christians in school, at work, and in our communities.  We, of course, had the many traveling woes, which I am now coming to understand are a necessary part of any youth trip in Kenya, whether I like it or not.  I guess Nicole and I can’t expect not to have adventures here, though I am sure that our “adventures” will be some of our best memories/nightmares of our experience in Kenya.  One thing that we always enjoy is the good laugh we get seeing the many odd things we don’t see in America; such as the Lazarus Funeral Home, or seeing a guy working under his car on the side of the rode while the car is jacked up with two big stones under two of the wheels rather than using a car jack.  Or seeing the “fire equipment” at the AGC Bible School.  Apparently, the school was required to meet certain fire safety specifications, so they added a bucket full of sand near the center of the campus.  Overall, things are going well and after our short rest, we are now preparing for a new sports ministry we have helped to start in our community as well as our church mission trip to Tanzania.   I am a little nervous about it, but I know that the trip will be a once in a lifetime experience.  Nicole is off to Tenwek Hospital (about a 3 hour drive) this evening as one of the babies is very sick.  Please pray for a save journey and for the health of the baby.  She will also be going through surgery in a few weeks because of a problem with her heart.  Nicole and I appreciate all of your support and prayers throughout our stay here in Kenya, and we hope that our short blogs are able to give a small picture of how grateful we are for the opportunities we have had because of so many of our friends and family.  God bless. ~ Jeremy

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  We have been here, there, and everywhere the past few weeks.  This past weekend we were in Nairobi doing immigration stuff and taking a few days rest.  The weekend before that we were at Tenwek Hospital for the World Gospel Field Meeting.  It was nice to get out of the Nakuru area and spend some time with our friends at Tenwek. 

Life at the Baby Center is going well.  We are up to 29 babies.  We had 30, but Joy (whom I had blogged about a few months back) was adopted last week. We have one baby who just returned from Tenwek Hospital.  She was admitted due to some severe cardiac complications accompanied by pneumonia.  About 3 weeks ago we also received a new girl that is about 11 months old and clearly the product of severe abuse.  She finally smiled this week and it’s amazing to see the change in her as she learns that she doesn’t have to be afraid anymore.   

As for our date to return to the U.S., we are still deciding.  Hopefully we will have a decision by next week.  Our 9 months that we originally committed to is up on October 20th, and currently we are scheduled to fly out that day.  We may extend a little longer depending on the needs here at the Baby Center and our funds, but we haven’t decided for sure.  It’s bittersweet as we think about returning to the U.S.  We are anxious to get home to friends and family, but definitely not looking forward to saying goodbye to the kids/babies and some other friends here.  ~Nicole

Faith

A few weeks ago I had blogged about receiving 3 new girls; Faith, Elizabeth, and Deborah.  What I didn’t have a chance to write about was Faith’s story.  Faith was  abandoned in a town about one hour from the Baby Center.  Apparently she had been thrown into a choo (outhouse).  She was thrown down into the hole and left for dead.  Eventually someone heard her down there and called the police to rescue her.  It’s amazing she didn’t drown.  Upon getting her out she was covered in maggots from head to toe.  They said that every orifice of her body had maggots in it and her stomach was bulging and hard from all of the maggots inside.  They took her to a local  hospital for treatment and were able to get her cleaned up and stabilized.  It looks like she was in there for over 24 hours.  Upon receiving her here at the Baby Center she looked mostly normal except her eyes were swollen and one eyelid was drooping.  We took her to Tenwek Hospital to see one of our Missionary ophthalmologists.  He said that her eyelids had grown into her corneas (this was due to the maggots having been in her eyes and causing an  infection).  He was able to cut the lids and cornea apart and we expect her to make a full recovery.  Currently she is doing really well.  ~Nicole

Losam Part 1 – Ready Or Not, Here We Come

After a crazy few days of scrambling to make all the last minute arrangements and a prayer from the church elders, we set off for Losam.  We didn’t make it too far before the first issues arose.  After about a half hour of driving, we got stopped at a police check, which is usually no big deal, that is, unless your driver does not have his license or permits with him.  Thus, we waited around for almost an hour.  I finally went to talk with police myself, and he told me our driver was being arrested.  I told the policeman that we would make arrangements for the company we were using to send us another car.  After about 5 more minutes, the policeman let us go when he realized he was not going to get any chai (bribe).  We were off again.  Luckily, at the other police checks, they never asked to see  our driver’s documentation.  We arrived at the church in Kitale where we were going to sleep for the night at about 7ish.  The food was not prepared as it was supposed to be so we went to town to make arrangements for the 80 plus youth that had come from several churches from around Kenya.  The planning committee met while the youth were eating to make all the arrangements for transport and food in the morning.  We finally finished at around 1 in the morning and tried to get some sleep.  I woke up around 6 to discover that my sandals and my hat had walked off with one of the youth.  This was the first of many of my things taken and one of the cultural differences that I don’t think I could ever get used to.  I learned quickly not to leave my stuff in the open.  I finally found my stuff and explained to the youth that he was not to use my things without asking first.  We set off for Losam in the morning and arrived around 6 in the evening with only a few minor issues.  The trip was long, hot, cramped, and bumpy.  Upon arriving, we received a great welcome from the locals (welcoming party video), and the youth were excited about the coming week. ~ Jeremy

Losam Part 2 – Life is Different in Losam

The first evening we set up all the tents that we had.  There were about 20 or so boys that did not have room in the tents so they had to make arrangements using tarps and rope.   I also got the chance to sleep outside later in the week when one of my youth was getting pretty sick and the doctors did not want him sleeping outside.  He thus took my tent, and I took his spot shown in the picture.  But the first few nights I had a nice tent.  We then went to sleep around 11 that night.  My tent mate and I awoke in the morning at around 5 am and discovered we had some uninvited guests.  After getting bitten several times, we finally found that we had slept with hundreds of ants.  We spent the rest of the morning getting them out of our tent and getting some insect repellant powder to put under our tent to avoid future visitors.  This was when I first realized that life is going to be much different this week.  The people of Losam, called Pokot, have a very simple and difficult life.  They live out in the middle of nowhere, and food and water supplies are scarce.  When we were there, it was even the rainy season, but water was very limited.  We had to dig down several feet in a dry river bed until we found water.  Then we had to scoop out all the dirty water and let new water filter in.  After that, we filled water containers and carried them for drinking water, cooking, and showering.  It was a long process.  I am not sure how the Pokot women survive.  They have to fill their containers and carry them on their heads for several kilometers.  As for the showers, they consist of filling a bucket, walking around the corner of the river, and using your hands to get wet, lather, and rinse.  The showers are very simple as you can see in the first photo here.  I also sometimes had visitors who were very interested in what this white person was doing out in the middle of nowhere, showering out in the open.  Here they are in the photo to the right.  Bathrooms are also much different in Losam.  The good news is that they are all around everywhere you go.  The bad news is that they are only bushes.  At a few places the Pokot people have built some coverage around the bathrooms as in this photo.  Naps are also very common for the Pokot people when they are out traveling in the desert.  The men carry this chair here, which also serves as their pillow.  The women and the children usually just find and stone to use for a pillow.  It is safe to say that I had to make a few adjustments while in Losam. ~Jeremy

Losam Part 3 – The Real Work Begins

Definitely, the best part of the trip was the ministry.  Each morning, we woke up and had a short time of praises, prayer, and devotions together.  We then took breakfast and were off to work.  We divided up into four teams, and we took turns with the different responsibilities for the week.  One group collected water and one group cooked food.  Both of these tasks were challenging and took a lot of hard work.  The third group helped with construction and the fourth helped at the medical camp that we were providing for the people of Losam.  I have already discussed the challenges of water, but the food was also a challenge, especially when cooking for 80 plus people with nothing but a few stones, a few fires, and a couple really big cooking pots.  We had traditional Kenyan food the whole week, which consists of ugali, beans, or rice with no drinks.  Needless to say, there wasn’t a moment the whole trip where I was not thirsty.  Occasionally, we had some goat meat, which was very fresh as you can see from the photos.  Some even enjoyed it raw. 

The construction teams worked on building a school for the locals.  This is a huge need since there is not a school within probably about at least 30 kilometers, which is a long way to walk.  The youth did a wonderful job with the help of one construction worker.  All of the 2x4’s and poles were cut by either a machete or chainsaw, and the wood was carried by foot, sometimes for up to 5 kilometers or more.  Even though it was a lot of work, we accomplished our goal and the school was completed by the end of the week.  Now, the Kenyan missionaries need to find good teachers to run the school.  The medical camp was the last of the 4 ministries we had during the daytime.  This was also a very important outreach because medical care is very scarce out in this area.  I met several people who are currently blind because they didn’t have means of treating some of the eye infections that are so common in this area.  With the team that we brought, we had two doctors, a nurse, and several other medical staff.  Nicole was very disappointed that she missed out on this ministry.  We had the medical camp each day and the medical staff saw and treated hundreds of people.  They worked very hard and had a huge impact on the people of Losam.  During each evening, we had a church meeting with the locals.  The first night, we sang some praises and introduced ourselves.  I also had the privilege of preaching to the group, though I was not well prepared since I was asked to preach about 3 minutes before the sermon was to begin.  I decided to speak on one of my favorite passages from Luke 10, when Jesus answers the question, “And who is my neighbor?'”  The pastor of the church translated to Pokot and our youth really enjoyed my accent and attempts at speaking Swahili.  The following nights, we showed a Jesus film in their own language.  Though it was a great deal of work to set up and prepare the film, there was a huge response, and we saw God move in a powerful way throughout the week.  Around 300 or more people came each night to view the film, some who walked 30 kilometers or more to see it.  We did face several challenges though.  The first day we got there, the generator was broken.  Luckily, we were able to borrow one from a center not to far away.  On the last day that we were showing the film, we did not have our sound equipment because it was sent back to the church in Kitale for a wedding.  Thus, we had to use a very old megaphone type speaker that the missionary used in the area.  The problem was that the input for the speaker was a headphone jack, and we only had RCA jacks.  After some discussion, we decided that we could try cutting the headphone jack from one of the pastor’s headphones.  After about 30 minutes of work, we were finally able to connect it to the former RCA jack wire.  After some adjusting of the wire, we kept the sound from crackling as long as no one touched the wire.  We then switched back to our generator, which had been “repaired,” and we returned the old one.  After that, we set up the projector and discovered that it was not turning on for some reason.  The only thing we could figure out was that the generator wasn’t producing the proper voltage because it was powering everything but the projector.  After another 30 minutes or so, I heard a pop from inside the projector and then saw some smoke coming from the lens area.  Needless to say, there was no Jesus film that night despite all our efforts.  All in all, we spent about 3 hours and ended up with ruined headphones, RCA cable, and projector.  Hopefully we will figure out a way to replace the projector.  Even so, the Jesus film was a complete success and many people committed their lives to Christ.

In addition to the ministries that we provided, we were also able to give loads and loads of clothing and food to the pastors to disperse amongst those in need.  Several youth even gave much of their own clothing and shoes to help the locals.  We also donated a water filter and 3,000 Kenyan Shillings to each of the pastors and the Kenyan missionary family.  They really appreciated the gifts and they will go a long way in helping out the people of Losam.  The youth were also able to spend some time getting to know others from different churches and played many games together, such as Phase 10, Scrabble, and Uno.  We also showed a few movies, such as National Treasure and Batman Begins, which they really enjoyed.  On Saturday, our second to last day, we also went on a long and challenging hike up a local mountain.  We named it Mlima Wa Mzungu (mountain of the white man) because I was the first white person to climb it .  Overall, from what I have heard, they had a great time and were heavily impacted by the trip.  We appreciate all your prayers and support. ~ Jeremy